Forthcoming Attractions and Actions

Now I now longer have to think about the TAPS continuing drama workshop, it's time to concentrate on some paying work. Got several deadlines for the week ahead. Two pieces of journalism for Death Ray magazine, an interview feature to wrap up for the Judge Dredd Megazine and a script to write for Egmont Sweden's Fantomen [once the synopsis gets approval from the editorial team]. Not sure I'll squeeze all of those into the working week, as most of Wednesday will get eaten up by a meeting with an independent production company. It's not project-specific, more of a meet and greet thing. Do they want to work with me? Do our sensibilities match?

Got my 19th novel lurking in the subconscious, waiting to be unleashed. Writing a novel takes a long time, if only because of all the typing involved. Please you need to be constantly thinking, juggling story threads, keeping all those character developments fresh in your mind. I prefer to write a novel as a solid block, excluding all other creative work. Sometimes I take a break halfway through to fulfil a deadline or two. This can be useful, as it gives a chance to review progress so far, pick any story threads that have been forgotten. But stopping the machine means you spend several days reclaiming the momentum you previously possessed.

Contemplating a few competitions and opportunities, several of which have imminent deadlines. ScriptapaloozaTV has its final deadline for entries tomorrow. You can submit spec scripts for exisiting US dramas or comedies, or original pilots for a drama or comedy of your own devising. I've got a couple of original pilots I could submit, but both are British in setting and style so I'm not sure there's much value in entering either of them. The Berlinale Talent Campus closes for applications tomorrow. That's much more about features, which is not where my priorities tend, but I'm still tempted as it's a great experience according to someone who went this year.

Last but not least, it's about time I made a concerted effort to secure representation. I've had a couple of attempts without getting anywhere, but it's not the sort of thing that can be done piecemeal. So it's time to choose ten agencies, and fire off an introductory letters asking if they want to read my material. Having won an award for my short film script DANNY'S TOYS looks good on a CV, but is a little misleading as I want to write for TV drama. Still, anything that gets me positive recognition is better than nothing. If anybody's got agent experiences they'd like to share, feel free to leave a comment. Right now, I need all the advice and expertise I can get.